General Finishes 2017 Design Challenge

DIY Farmhouse Table

Winning Category

My husband and I had been looking for a dining room table in a farmhouse style to fit in our new home. It had to be a specific size and color. I had seen many tutorials on upcycled furniture and knew exactly what I wanted and couldn't find one anywhere. So being a crafty person and not afraid to try new mediums I set to work on finding the perfect used table and chairs in our local online garage sale site. And there it was! The most beat up table and chairs I could find. It was heavy solid wood and just begging for me to make it beautiful again.

Now to find General Finishes Java Gel took some doing. There was no one in our area that carried it (at the time) so the search was on. We finally found it in a neighboring town not to far away.

We screwed in some regular pine boards in varying widths directly to the top of the table with the leaves left in. That gave us the perfect size we wanted, and counter sunk the screws. Filled in with wood putty to give it that dimpled look and then we were ready to stain. I also carved our initials into the corner of the table top with a heart and the year we met. (Now our adult children are fighting over who will inherit it one day. ;) I only used one coat of General Finishes Java Gel Stain as I liked the more translucent feel and how the grain of the wood popped through. Then added three coats of the Top Coat. The base of the table and chairs were chalk painted and antique waxed. I also added two fabric comfy chairs to replace out the captains chairs (those are in the quest rooms) to give it some contrast.

I have to say with this being one of the biggest projects I have ever done, it was one of the fastest completed thanks to General Finishes stain and High Performance Top Coat.

We couldn't be happier with the results. Our table is over two years old now and we use it all the time. It is quite the conversation piece with our visitors and we are proud to say we made it ourselves.